Shops will not be compelled to accept cash, a government minister has said, despite concerns that certain marginalised people could be excluded where cash isn’t accepted.
As part of an inquiry into the acceptance of cash, economic secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds told the Treasury Committee that the government has no plans to compel big or small firms to accept cash.
"We have no plans to regulate businesses – big or small – to compel them to accept cash," she said.
The UK was "not anywhere near" being a cashless society, with convenience stores planning to accept notes and coins for years, said Reynolds, adding that tackling digital exclusion was still key for those who might struggle.
Members of the committee pointed to evidence they had received from victims of domestic and economic abuse who said they only had an escape route with cash.
Card payments dominate ways of paying, and consumers are increasingly using their smartphones to pay for things.
However, notes and coins were used in a fifth of shop transactions last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), as shoppers found cash helped them to budget better.
It was the second year in a row that cash use in shops had risen following a decade of falls.
Bank branch and ATM closures have prompted concerns around the ability to use cash, as have the struggles among some people to pay in cash for goods and services such as shopping and parking.
Reynolds later told the hearing: “I think we’re saying that businesses should have the flexibility to offer the choice in payments that they think their customers need and that we are not minded or we don’t have any plans to regulate to force business to accept cash. But we do know that there are many businesses who still do.”
She said a plan to force businesses which provide essential services to accept cash would not be easy to implement because, “it’s so difficult to define… where would it stop and where would it end?”.
She later added: “As I’ve said, the focus of the government is on the access to cash regime, which does relate to the acceptance of cash, because if businesses don’t have places to go to deposit cash, that’s when they stop accepting cash.
“We don’t have a plan to go towards a cashless society. Yes, we do want to ensure that we’re at the leading edge of innovation and we do want to combat digital exclusion but we think there is a role for cash going forward, otherwise we wouldn’t have been committed to the access to cash regime and to 350 banking hubs.”
Commenting on Reynolds' declaration, Ron Delnevo, chair of Payment Choice Alliance, expressed hope that Treasury Committee will most likely recommend some legislation to guarantee the British public can use cash.
"Also in February, the Payment Choice Alliance will be in Parliament meeting with MPs who support cash and Payment Choice.
There are hundreds of them, including 70 per cent + of Labour MPs," he stated.
